not so-called "unrequited love"
i accidentally found this treasure on wetv and got hooked from the 1st ep till completed. i didn't wanna skip any parts as i could feel their emotions/pain thru their eyes and the love they tried to hold for 10years.this is not typically ML's domineering mom wants to get rid of the FL by giving her money and then end. instead, she also wants to see the character development of FL until she becomes her "right-hand" at the company.
i love the storyline which depicts both main leads are still into each other, but i also feel sorry for the 2nd FL. she's also the victim here. At least he eventually did compensate her and clear up their relationship before re-starting again with FL.
regardless, this is worth watching! the acting, the BGM, the face card, the scenery are so good! and the kiss scenes are also my fav! the ML's so clingy uww and so is the FL. their communication after reconciliation is much better, avoid misunderstanding. so much love!
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This review may contain spoilers
Title: Ten Years of Unrequited Love is a very well done miniseries with He Chang Xi (as Cen Si Yuan) and Ji Shu Yi (as Lin Miao Miao) in the leading couple’s role. The cast did a good job bringing their characters to life and the lead couple has a very good romantic chemistry. Loving and waiting for someone for ten years is a bit far fetched but the male lead really carries this drama with his unapologetic and forceful nature because he knows very well that it will take a physical and emotional collusion to break down the female lead’s barriers. It must be noticed that the lead couple was in a deep and loving relationship for two years before his mother took advantage of the female lead’s miserable circumstances to separate them. Beside some irrational decisions from the leading lady and the male lead’s mother, once the male lead comes to know the real circumstances of the female lead’s decisions, he well knows that been nice and patient was not a choice to wake up the female lead’s stubborn determination to fulfill her promise. It is captivating to see the male lead’s determination to fight his mother’s misguided and cruel reasons to justified her actions. There are some viewers that felt really sorry for the second female lead but, besides the fact that there is not enough background about her character and the type of connection that she had with the male lead before coming back with him, it becomes obvious that, although she cared about him, she had ulterior motives to be with him and it was not that she really loved him the reason to become vindictive, but the male lead knew that he should not have used her to provoke the female lead. (All of these becomes funnily clear at the end when she encounters Den Qi Han and his son at the hospital!)
The time frame for the train wreck is about three months and everything becomes clear from episode 18 to 24 that causes the male lead to become more proactive than ever and it is obvious to the viewer that he had a plan B concocted with the female lead’s sister to finally put an end to their misery. The lead couple is a testament to steadfast and rebounding love and the male lead’s resoluteness gives her the will and the strength to move forward with him. The male lead’s character also becomes more understandable on the last 4 episodes.
Overall, taking in consideration that this is not a full length drama, the plot is well developed, the lead couple has a riveting romance, and the drama is entertaining, enjoy it!
In the meantime, this drama can be found on viki.com.
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Fun - brain off entertainment
This is such a fun binge the type where you just switch off every single part of your brain and moral compass and enjoy the ride.Our leads are true opposites attract bubbly, assertive, passionate meets "I must hold back" .... Giving us an answer to what happens after the girl takes the money envelope and tries to stay away from the son. Their chemistry is there and while I do believe the male lead needs a lesson about consent and all rownd how to respect other peoples boundaries he does have his moments making us understand why everybody loves him (partly money, part smile, part devotion) while thinking fantasy fun- real life avoid at all coast. He is the new king of wrist grabs and forced kisses.
The writers seem to choose hot scenes over logic giving us such lovely moments as non melting ice with no purpose other than be pretty and draw attention to the mouthes of the leads as well as the good old clothes in the shower.
All in all a short, fun binge just beware of the lack of all logic and consent and Im sure you will be fine.
Also the title is a bit misleading its more of a 10 years of deception, or 10 years of spreading seeds....
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This review may contain spoilers
Major spoilers so please read with caution if you don’t want to be triggered. Let me just say it’s not a bad watch and I’ll get to that beyond this paragraph. It’s not unrequited so there’s that. If you’re like me where i really do want to watch one where the opposite totally has no interest whatsoever, and to see a revolving interesting come together, this falls short. (please give me a rec if you know of ones) Fine, I’m good with this folly except I have lots of questions that nags me of what writer wants to portray of the female lead. Lots of why’s and huh? For example, she wants to know how many females he’s been with. Huh? She’s supposed to not be interested. Yeah, that kind and others flat right out of nowhere of a story of a man in love with a woman who does not share that sentiment just has me toggling my brains.Now, as I said, it’s actually a decent watch. I think that the leads keeps me hopeful. They’re a good looking pair. His expressive eyes, longing just makes me cheer him on. She’s finicky. Want to be cold, strong, submissive to her job, yet is a willow needing to be watered by him. The only real culprit is his mom and her nonsense typical pairing him for business growth sort of bs. No major side roles opposition parties except tame ones that i feel are not major headaches. I don’t know how it’ll fare henceforward but it’s halfway through and it’s entertaining as mentioned. So for a short drama, I think this is a cute couple who deserves your attention if you’re looking for a soft romance. Recommended.
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FL is great, but plot is dumb and annoying
I *hate* to give bad reviews since I know everyone who works on the series puts so much effort into it, but...First the positive. The FL is truly gorgeous and does a really great job of navigating different emotional elements. The ML does a good job, but his character makes it hard to appreciate him.
The bad:
Not sure if this is my western sensibility (my wife is Chinese so I am not unfamiliar th the culture), but there is so much gripping, yanking, dragging, and treating as an object of the FL that I just couldn't take it. I dropped. Even though I wanted to see how it turned out, I just could not keep watching that. What woman would put up with that sh*t? The FL should have removed sensitive body parts with a butter knife from the guys treating her like that. Or called the police. Or something!
Good setup to the plot, but gads. If you don't want to see woman treated both physically and emotionally like an object, don't watch it.
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Ten Years of Unrequited Love: When Sacrifice Becomes the Story
🔹This trope struck me as all too familiar, leaving me longing for a sense of novelty that just wasn't there.🔹 Would I rewatch? No
✨ Ten years can change a lot, but can it truly erase that first love?
📕 Overview
🔹 24 episodes, romance/melodrama
🔹 Based on the novel Shi Nian Qing Cen by Yi Bei
🔹 Ji Shu Yi plays Lin Miao Miao, a woman who trades love for her father’s health
🔹 He Chang Xi plays Cen Si Yuan, who still carries feelings even after being pushed away
🔹 The setup is clear: a mother’s ultimatum pulls them apart, and time only deepens the ache
🔹 At the time of this review, 8 episodes have aired, enough to show the break, the promise, and the uneasy reunion
🌸 How It Felt Watching
🔹 The short episode length creates urgency, but it often feels too swift for the emotional moments to resonate.
🔹 The weight of their past sorrow lingers, but the warmth of their shared memories reminds them that love can endure even the most complex trials.
🔹 The themes of sacrifice, family pressure, and rediscovered love are at the forefront.
🔹 This trope felt all too familiar, leaving me yearning for novelty.
✨ Cast & Acting
🔹 Ji Shu Yi made Miao Miao’s pain and choices easy to resonate with
🔹 He Chang Xi gave Si Yuan a mix of longing and frustration that made his side of the story believable
🔹Their chemistry convincingly portrays both the heartache and the desire for reunion.
🔹The mother’s character felt like a familiar trope. For me, she was serving as a barrier for the couple without much depth
💫 Relationship Tension 💫
🔹 This doesn’t play like true unrequited love. Both leads still hold strong feelings, but their backgrounds and family expectations weigh heavily on them.
🔹 It’s a push and pull where love is evident, yet obstacles keep dragging them apart.
☕ Tea Notes
🔹 Ten Years of Unrequited Love drew me in because of the leads, even though the story relied on familiar tropes.
🔹 The title felt misleading since the love is mutual, not truly unrequited.
🔹 Short episodes made the pacing brisk but also rushed, and the mother’s role didn’t add much depth.
🔹 Would I rewatch? No
☕ SpillTheDramaTea’s Rating: 7/10 — a steady cup, heartfelt but familiar
✏️ As SpillTheDramaTea, I liked the leads more than the story plot. If you’re in the mood for something sweet and comforting, this drama will hit the spot.
✨ Would you wait ten years for true love, or would time set you free?
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Good watch
I really liked this C drama. Interesting story, great chemistry between ML/FL, Both are gorgeous and talented actors. Supporting actors are also great and likeable. Villains are just that, but not too many. Overall, good and interesting entertainment with a happy ending. Thank you for the great experience.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
A great binge-watch with a MAJOR caveat
Alt title: Getting Away with 10 Years of Destructive Manipulation.For the majority of the show, it is a fun watch with surprisingly good production value for a short drama. It’s filled with the expected tropes, but the actors are delightful to watch and it’s an easy weekend binge show. ***However*** Warning if you can’t stand a villain parent getting away with their evil. We see the FL in FULL Stockholm syndrome, even comforting her MIL when the ML finds out how she is the reason for them being apart for a decade. Episode 23 had me fully yelling at the TV. I completely lost all respect for the FL there and honestly just wanted him to tell her to get lost. The MIL telling the FL to just “consider these ten years as a test of your love.” Seriously?? She admits that she was abandoned and thus decided that all men were evil, including her own son, so she essentially broke them up to “save” the FL. Another character makes the comment, “She actually did all that? Well, she had her reasons.” Huh?? And now that she has cancer, she also demands forgiveness and again asks the FL to keep this secret from the ML.
It probably seems odd that after all that I would compliment the show, but up until that episode, honestly the 2 leads are great, and their chemistry and characters are fun to watch. The villains have minimal screen time and (apart from mama evil) are not that upsetting to watch. The music is remarkably good for a short drama- I honestly think the production value is better than many full-length rom-coms I’ve seen. Finally, lots of folks have noted that it’s not really unrequited love- I think the idea is that the ML *thinks* it is unrequited, until he unravels all of his mother’s manipulations and realizes the FL has loved him and never been with anyone else the whole time.
Full disclosure – Ep 23 kind of killed the momentum for me, so I scrubbed through the last episode for the first time with any drama I’ve ever watched. It was fine since it mostly wrapped up the mother and ex-girlfriend’s stories. If you’re a pretty forgiving person and you like the reunion of lost loves / wealthy parents intervening in their kids’ relationships tropes, then you’d probably like this show. Or if you like to hate-watch evil parents, then get excited for Episode 23. Enjoy!
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